With Enel joining them, Zhang Shan and the others had completely stopped worrying about conserving electricity.
Whenever they had nothing else to do, they would turn on all the lights aboard the spaceship. The little robots were almost always running, and all the daily chores on the ship had been handed over to them. Even washing clothes and cooking were left to the robots.
As for the humans, all they had to do each day was play around, train, and, of course, eat.
With a sufficient power supply, the spaceship could also travel at full speed. It took only half a day to reach the next satellite.
The spaceship landed on the surface of the red planet. Once again, all they could see was a field of ruins. The ruins here had suffered far more severe erosion than those on the moon, which showed that the planet's original inhabitants had left their home much earlier than the people of the moon.
One of the busy little robots reported, "The planet's atmosphere has collapsed. No oxygen has been detected on the surface. Please put on protective equipment before leaving the spaceship."
"No oxygen?"
Zhang Shan immediately lost interest in this dead planet.
If an archaeologist discovered this planet, they would probably be so excited that their blood pressure would shoot through the roof before rushing over to investigate its civilization.
But Zhang Shan wasn't a historian, and there wasn't a historian aboard his ship either. After discussing it among themselves, they simply headed for the next satellite.
They went through the remaining six satellites one after another.
Every single one was a dead planet.
When they landed on the final satellite, they found a planet covered in yellowish-brown soil. Hill and the others put on their spacesuits and stepped out of the spaceship.
Zhang Shan, however, didn't bother with the bulky spacesuit. He simply exposed his body to the vacuum of space.
That single action completely changed everyone's understanding of his strength.
Even Im, who had reached her level of existence, couldn't survive in a vacuum for long.
Yet Zhang Shan had exposed himself directly to the vacuum without taking any protective measures. It was almost as though his life level had already reached the point where he could move freely through the vacuum.
"Heh~ How is that possible? Even after merging with the planet's will and gaining an immortal body, I still couldn't reach that level. He's not even thirty. How could he possibly…"
Im fell silent.
She remembered how Zhang Shan had subdued her with one hand.
So what if she had merged with the planet's will?
Hadn't she still been casually taken down by him?
Thinking about it that way, Zhang Shan being able to move freely through a vacuum didn't seem all that surprising anymore.
After all, this was the man who could suppress her with one hand.
The yellow-brown planet was constantly plagued by enormous sandstorms. Even in specially designed spacesuits, Hill and the others could barely keep their footing against the fierce winds.
Seeing this, Zhang Shan helplessly shook his head and released his own supernatural energy, creating a stable area around them.
"Let's go. We'll see if there's anything interesting on this planet."
"If you have such a convenient ability, you should've used it from the start!" Olga and Bonney complained.
"Enough! Otherwise, I'll leave you two brats here to eat sand!"
"Tch! I don't believe you!"
The group continued forward, bickering as they went.
After a while, Im asked curiously, "Why did you let me out?"
"You're nice to look at. It's easy on the eyes."
"…"
Im was speechless.
She had thought of all kinds of reasons. She had even considered that Zhang Shan might have brought her along as a guide.
She had never expected such a bizarre reason.
The others were equally speechless at their captain.
He had actually released someone as powerful as Im just because she was nice to look at?
If he wanted someone pleasing to the eyes, he could have simply brought Hancock along! The two of them practically looked identical, and Hancock was completely infatuated with him. At least he wouldn't have to worry about being betrayed.
Klein sheathed his sword and continued walking alongside Zhang Shan.
At the same time, he still had to worry about whether Im might suddenly launch a sneak attack.
Sigh.
Being the vice-captain was truly exhausting.
In reality, Klein was worrying for nothing.
After seeing Zhang Shan casually walking around in the vacuum just now, Im would have to be out of her mind to keep resisting him.
Sure, she was immortal, but getting beaten still hurt.
She didn't have any strange preferences like that.
So it was better to obediently cooperate. Maybe, if Zhang Shan happened to be in a good mood, he might even let her go.
The chances were probably slim, but people always needed something to look forward to, didn't they?
After walking for a while, Zhang Shan spotted a small cave.
If he hadn't been paying close attention to his surroundings, he might have missed it entirely.
"What is this?" Olga asked curiously.
"This is where the ancestors of the Tontatta Tribe once lived," Im explained.
"Oh? So does that mean those Tontatta and the Mink Tribe are actually aliens?" Zhang Shan asked curiously.
"No. They were simply exiled here."
Im shook her head.
Everyone nodded.
There was clearly an interesting story behind all this.
But Im obviously had no intention of saying more. She quietly glanced at Zhang Shan with her green eyes.
As long as he asked, she could use the opportunity to make a deal.
Unfortunately, Zhang Shan seemed to have no curiosity whatsoever. He didn't even spare her a glance.
Instead, he simply dug up the entire Tontatta ruins.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
Watching the ruins crumble into ashes in Zhang Shan's hands, even someone like Im couldn't help shouting.
"Huh? I was just curious."
Zhang Shan casually dusted the ashes from his hands.
"Looks like there's nothing worth paying attention to on this planet either. Let's go. We're leaving this star system."
Bonney carried a tiny building in her hands and followed everyone back to the spaceship.
Once they returned, the little robots also came back one after another. The spaceship started up and left the final satellite, taking them farther and farther away from the blue planet.
Everyone stood at the rear of the spaceship, watching the blue planet gradually grow smaller in the distance.
They were all somewhat reluctant to leave.
Zhang Shan was reluctant too.
He hadn't originally planned to leave the planet so soon. At the very least, he had intended to wait until the New World that Shanks and the others kept talking about finally arrived, then watch the whole spectacle before leaving.
But now that he had captured Im, there was a chance that a world war capable of engulfing the entire planet would break out.
Zhang Shan had no interest in getting dragged into some bizarre struggle for power.
Fortunately, his spaceship was already finished, so he decided to take his companions into space.
Still, he had left a spatial coordinate on the original planet. If he wanted to return, all he needed was an ultra-long-distance teleportation.
Now that Enel had joined them, they no longer had to worry about electricity. They could return whenever they wanted without any concerns.
As the spaceship accelerated, the blue planet gradually disappeared from their sight.
Only then did Zhang Shan suddenly remember something.
"Right! Our spaceship doesn't seem to have any kind of near-light-speed travel capability!"
He had suddenly realized a serious problem.
Without enough speed, how many years would they have to drift through space?
Thousands of years?
Or tens of thousands?
And even after all that, there was no guarantee they would find another habitable planet.
"Looks like I still need to modify the spaceship…"
Back in his seat, Zhang Shan's consciousness sank into the space of his good brothers.
Kōgaku Zhang Shan was slacking off there. When he saw Pirate Zhang Shan, he greeted him with a smile.
"Yo? What brings you here today?"
"Brother! Emergency!"
Pirate Zhang Shan immediately grabbed Kōgaku Zhang Shan's hand.
A huge amount of technological knowledge flooded into his mind.
"Okay! I'm off!"
Watching Pirate Zhang Shan hurriedly leave, Kōgaku Zhang Shan was left completely helpless.
"Hopefully he doesn't get lost in space~"
Zhang Shan's consciousness returned to his body.
He immediately transferred all the technological knowledge he had just obtained into the dark plane. Then he broke the information apart and transmitted it to the little robots through the dark plane before sending them off to work.
After finishing all that, Zhang Shan sat in his seat and let out a long sigh.
"This is seriously exhausting~"